Not What He Really Wanted
by Starfire201
Summary: All teens have a desire to fit in, to be part of a group or cause that accepts them. But sometimes the desire to be part of the "gang" can come with a very high price tag, and no matter how much you ignore that price, payment will always come due. 2018 TMNT Universal Reader's Choice Awards nominee for Best Canon Fiction


This story is an attempt by a former TMNT author to break back into the fandom, at least temporarily. This story idea comes from the very first TMNT movie, which was the best received of the original three, and was a hit for its time. The character chosen for this story, Danny Pennington, is one of the more minor characters in that movie, yet he still played an important role in it. I tried to capture his thoughts on one of his actions in that movie.

This is my first attempt at writing any kind of TMNT piece in about 8 years, so any constructive criticism will be well-accepted.

And thank you much to two-roads-and-a-penny for beta reading this for me. ^_^

Italicized quotes in blocked off sections are from the movie.

Written during NaNoWriMo 2017

* * *

 _"Looking everywhere only to find that it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind"_ \- Linkin Park, _Somewhere I Belong_

* * *

On the roof of a building not too far from the _Second Time Around_ antique shop, a young red-headed teenager watches as police and firemen scramble around the old building where the shop was, the police trying to keep people back as the firemen did their best to combat the fire. Shouts and cries filled the air over the sirens, as orders were given and spectators were pointing and trying to find out what was going on. Some could be heard wondering how the fire had even started, and others saying they hoped no one had been there when it had started, as it was rapidly becoming clear the building couldn't be saved.

Even from a distance, these could still be heard faintly by the boy standing on the roof, just staring as the building he'd been watching for the past couple hours turned to so much charred wood, brick, and ashes.

The building where his dad's employee, April O'Neil, had once lived.

And possibly had died, along with those mutants who were staying there.

The teenager, Danny Pennington, bowed his head, a look of misery on his face.

Earlier that day, he'd been over to Ms. O'Neil's apartment with his dad, who'd wanted to talk with her about something regarding his arrest the night before. His dad had been furious, the youth recalled.

Not knowing what exactly had bugged his dad, but knowing it probably had something to do with his abrupt release by the police, Danny'd kind of zoned out and started looking around while his dad and Ms. O'Neil talked.

As his gaze had passed by a mirror, he'd noticed a strange looking creature hiding under a table in Ms. O'Neil's kitchen, watching him. The creature looked like some kind of turtle, wearing an orange bandanna, and watching him right back through the reflection. When Danny had spun around to see if he'd been imagining things, the only thing under the table was a stuffed panda.

But Danny knew he'd seen _something_. And that something hadn't been a black and white stuffed toy.

It had been while he'd been trying to look for what he'd seen that Ms. O"Neil and his dad came back into the room, both more tense than when they had arrived. Right after that, he and his dad had left the apartment.

It had been on the way to school, while he was still trying to figure things out, that his dad had once more brought up the subject of his arrest...

* * *

 _"I don't get it, Danny. I make more than enough money to provide for both of us and you're stealing. Why?"_

 _"I don't know."_

 _"You don't know? What were you doing with a car stereo, anyway? Or don't you know that, either?"_

 _"Sorry."_

 _"Sorry? Not as sorry as you're going to be after school."_

* * *

It had been too much. He was tired of dealing with his dad, who didn't seem to care much about what he did unless it reflected on him, and jumped out of the car the moment it got to a stop light. He ran through the traffic, into the Bleeker street subway, and didn't stop moving until he got to his refuge, a warehouse over on Lairdman island, a place where a gang called the Foot trained.

Danny hadn't known anything about these guys when he'd joined them. The only thing he'd known was that this group allowed teens to do pretty much what they wanted without any adults around. Smoking, drinking, partying...whatever. Most of those kids who'd hung out there were kids like him, who'd felt ignored or shunned by their peers and the adults in their lives. Some would eventually be lucky enough to be asked to join the gang.

Danny had been one of those considered. He'd helped sort out some of the things the gang had brought back with them from outings they'd made. Danny had snagged one of those items, a Walkman, for himself. And when he was asked to start proving he had what it took to be a part of that gang, he'd jumped at the chance. He'd taken part in a lot of petty thefts, not least among them was stealing from Ms. O'Neil, someone who'd actually tried to stick up for him with his dad sometimes.

But he hadn't cared at the time. He was in a place where he belonged, and that was all that mattered. He was with other outcasts and doing whatever he wanted with no restrictions and one day he'd be an official part of the gang.

And when they'd had the gathering that day, Danny had thought he'd finally gotten his chance...

* * *

 _"You are here because the outside world rejects you. THIS is your family. I am your father. I want you all to become full members of the Foot. There is a new enemy: freaks of nature who interfere with our business. You are my eyes and ears. Find them! Together we will punish these creatures, these... turtles."_

* * *

When he'd heard those words, spoken by the very leader of the Foot, the Shredder himself, Danny had realized that this was his moment, his chance to prove himself, to become part of the gang he so much wanted to join. So he'd raised his hand and called out to the center of the room. The crowd parted before him, and with everyone's eyes on him, the Shredder's included, Danny had told what he'd seen, and where.

He'd thought nothing of the consequences when he did that, any more than he'd thought of the consequences when he'd joined the gang or when he'd started stealing from others. Even when he was arrested, he'd been more upset about being caught and losing what status he'd been able to pick up. This time wasn't going to be any different.

Or so he'd thought.

When he'd stolen, he'd never thought he was hurting anyone by doing it. After all, the places and people they were stealing from could replace what they'd lost easily enough. Not a big deal, really, he'd believed.

Sure, he'd heard rumors about some of the other things the Foot did, but he'd shrugged it off, not really believing they were doing anything more than giving kids like him a chance. Some of it had to be exaggerated.

Danny hadn't asked what would happen to the turtles. He hadn't really cared. Sure, he'd known about the rat; he'd heard the rumors about the beat-up, chained up creature in the back of the warehouse that supposedly was able to talk like a human, but hadn't seen it yet.

None of that had interested him, really. Fitting in was all that mattered.

But now...

Danny felt a sick feeling rising in his gut, one that had been forming from the moment he'd started watching the events of the evening play out.

He'd been allowed to watch the attack, as a reward for his information. Danny had watched as they attacked a turtle wearing a red mask on the roof of Ms. O'Neil's building. He'd fought them as best he could, but eventually he was overpowered and beaten unconscious.

It had been during this one-sided "fight" that he'd heard the Foot soldier behind him talking into a radio and learned that Ms. O'Neil had returned home. He hadn't even seen her arriving home, but the Foot soldier had. He radioed to the leader of the fighters, Tatsu, Danny thought his name was, informing him of what he'd seen and asking for instructions.

Danny had never given Ms. O'Neil much thought before. She was just an employee of his dad's who happened to stick up for him sometimes. He'd usually shrugged it off, and it hadn't stopped him from taking that money from her purse.

But then he'd heard Tatsu's reply over the radio: _"Master Shredder wants the reporter dealt with as well as the turtles. You will be rewarded for your information. Remain with the boy for now."_

Danny had frozen at that moment. He knew what the phrase "dealt with" meant. He'd heard it among the rumors of the darker side of the Foot, and was one of those which he'd never really believed was true.

Realizing all at once that it _was_ hadn't been a pleasant feeling.

He'd watched the rest of the events play out as if in a trance: The red-masked turtle being lifted up after he was knocked out, and thrown through the skylight, the Foot piling in after him...

After that, Danny couldn't see what happened from where he was standing, but he could visualize it all too well after seeing what happened to that turtle, and for the first time, it began to make him sick.

He'd only wanted to gain status with the Foot.

No one was supposed to get hurt.

No one was supposed to _die_.

Ms. O'Neil wasn't supposed to _die_.

A little voice laughed derisively inside his head: _What did you_ think _was going to happen when you gave that information? You heard the rumors. You took part in some of their actions. Did you_ really _believe they did nothing worse than stealing?_

When the sirens began to sound, the Foot soldier standing behind Danny had suddenly disappeared. Danny hadn't even noticed the departure at first, as focused as he was on that burning building.

He just watched as the crowds gathered, as the police tried to keep them at a distance, as the firemen shot the water onto the building.

But even Danny could see that it was too late. The building was completely swallowed up by flames.

There was no way anyone could have survived that.

Not even those turtles could have gotten out. Danny had come through that antique shop before with his dad when he came to visit Ms. O'Neil. That store had no exits beyond the fire escape and the front door. The Foot had been able to clamber out through the windows and doors before the flames had taken firm hold, but there was no way they would have allowed anyone else to escape...

Danny closed his eyes briefly, before turning away to head back to the warehouse.

All he'd wanted was status, a place to belong.

Nothing else.

And he'd earned it.

Oh, had he earned it.

But as he ran back to that warehouse, the same two thoughts kept running through his head.

 _No one was supposed to get hurt._

 _No one was supposed to die._


End file.
